Machine for making wrought-iron railroad-chairs



UNITED sTAT@ TENT orario ROBERT GRIFFITHS, OF NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WROUGHT-IRON RAILROAD-CHAIRS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,195, dated August 17, 1852.

To all 'whom Zi may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT GRIFFITHS, of Newport, in the county ofCampbellv and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machinery for Cutting and Bending lVrought-Iron Platesfor Railroad-Chairs; and l do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon, inwhich- Figure l. is a front elevation of the machine showing the variousparts in position to receive the plate of metal to have the clips bent.Fig. 2. is a side elevation showing the bending part of the machine inthe same position described in Fig. l, and the shearing part as havingperformed its oice of slitting the plate and raising the clip to anangle of about 50 degrees preparatory to being bent to clamp the rail.Fig. 3. is a vertical section t-aken through the center of the bendinghead parallel to its front with the benders clamping the plate andmandrel having completed the chair. Fig. 4l. is a vertical section takenthrough the center of the cutting or shearing head the shears having cutand raised the clip to the proper angle to be afterward turned by thebenders. Fig. 5. is an inverted plan of the cap (which is brought downand locked on the top of the plate of iron to be operated on to secureit in its place) showing the four knives or adjustable cutting edges ofpeculiar form. Fig. 6. is a plan of the top of one of the heads orpedestals on which the iron is placed to be cut or bent. Fig. 7. is adetached view of one of the benders. Fig. 8. a detached view of one ofthe shears. Fig. 9. is a top or face view of one of the shears showingthe peculiar form of the cutting edges.

The nature of my invention consists iirst in a combination of deviceswhereby my machine is rendered capable of adjustment for cutting andturning the clips of a wrought iron railroad chair of varied forms andof any required size to fit the various sizes and patterns of rails inuse; secondly in so forming and operating the cutting edges that theyshall shear the plate in such lines, that when cut it shall be perfectlyfree from the dies and not remain in contact with them to draw thetemper and render them incable of making a smooth cut as is the casewith other machines heretofore used for this purpose.

To enable others to make and use my invention I will proceed to describethe construction and operation of the machine together with myimprovements.

For performing the first operation upon the plate (that of cutting andraising the clip to a suitable angle to be afterward bent) I construct asolid head or pedestal A with a slight recess a, in the top to receivethe plate of iron, acrossthe upper end of this pedestal from side toside is a space cut out of about one third the width of the head and ofsufficient depth to receive the knuckle-jointed shears B, having theirfulcra in adjustable boxes I), fitted in slots c, in the front and backof said head, one shear on either side; to t-he outer end of theseshears are attached rods C, connecting them with wrist pins d, on theflanges D, fast on the ends of two horizontal parallel 'shafts E,overhead revolving in opposite directions by means of a pair of spurwheels F, on said shafts and which cause said outer ends of the shearsto describe the arc of a circle back and forth, raising the face orcutting part of the shears toward each other to an elevation of about 50degrees; between the knuckles of these shears in the center of thepedestal is a cavity which I fill up with two dies e, and a wedge f, sothat at whatever distance apart the fulcra of the shears may be set tosuit the width of the chair required these dies can be adjusted by meansof the wedge to fill the cavity, their object is to prevent the platefrom being pressed down in the center while cutting and giving it arolling base, instead of a flat and solid one, which would be thecertain result if there were no dies to support it, or, if they were notadjustable to lill the entire cavity at any required set of the shears;they also serve to keep the boxes in which the shears and benders havetheir fulcra back against the adjusting set screws. These dies areformed with the top, bottom, and inner side at right angles to eachother, and the outer side semi-circular concave fitting around theknuckle joints of the shears, the inner side of each having a slightdraft from front to back corresponding with the draft of the wedge;

-guide rods g, its under side is cut across from side to side,corresponding with theV upperv end of the pedestal to give room for theshears to rise, and from front toback to allow of the introduction of amandrel if required to keep the center of the plateV solid onl the diesbeneath; in the four corners, recessed Ylevel with the under side of thecap, I fix steel cutters It the cutting edges being those on the linesfrom side to side of the cap, they incline toward each other at theirouter corners and are beveled olf so as to present a keen cutting edgeon the under side, they are attached to the cap by square shoulderedbolts 1I with countersunk heads fitting in slots in the cutter, eachcutter is set up by a bevel wedge j, at its back to compensate for thewear of grinding the edge; corresponding with these cutters in the cap,are steel plates 7c on the upper side of the shears which are madenarrower at theirouter end, than at the inner, and consequently cut theclip of the chair narrowest at the point which is turned up, it will beevident then that as these two clips on opposite sides of the plate areelevated to the desired angle as shown in the drawing, every point ontheir edges will be moved more or less (in proportion to its elevation)toward the center of the cap, and as the space between the cutters inthe cap gradually widens toward their inner corners the cap will be freeto lift independent of the plate, leaving it on the pedestal to beremoved by hand instruments; whereasvif these cutting edges were on twoparallel lines from side to side of the cap, the clip would be cutstraight and when raised up to its proper angle, the space between thecutters in the cap, being equal from side to center, they would in beingraised either scrape the edges of the clips or more probably, lift theplate with it when it would be both awkward and difficult to free it andbeing hot wouldV soon draw all the temper from the cutters, and renderthem incapable of making a smooth cut.

At the opposite end of the machine is another pedestal or head I-I,fitted with center dies 0, adjusting wedge p, set screws g, sliding capr, and cutters, exactly like those already described, .and it is deemedany further notice of'them here would be superiiuous, this head h'oweverinstead of having shears as in the other, for cuttingthe plate, isfitted with hook shaped benders I, on either side which have a similarmotion to that of the shears, imparted by similar devices as shown inthe drawing, these hook shaped benders are of suitable form to bend theclip around a mandrel Z of the exact size and shape of the part of therail that the chair is intended to fit; the actionV of the benders ismade to alternate with that of the shears so as to equalize the powerrequired to work themachine. By those un- Yacquainted with the practicaldifficulties encountered in thus operating on iron, it might be deemedunnecessary to use the cutters as described in the capof this bendinghead, but `in case the shears should not have cut the clip quite farenough, or otherwise not performed the duty ascribed to them in aperfect manner, owing to the cutters getting out of order, theintroduction of them into this part also would enable the machine toperfect the chair which might otherwise have been a waste.

In operating the machine the plates of iron being first cut offinregular and suitable sizes they arey heated in a furnace, the cap of theshearing pedestal raised, and a plate laid in the recess on the top ofthe pedestal, the cap is then weighed down and secured by the springcatch mi, for that purpose; the machine being now in motion, the shearsin rising toward each other make a double cut in each side of the plate,at the same timebending the part up to form the clip of the chair to thedesired angle of elevation, which may be regulated by the pitch given tothe cutters on the face of the shears, this being performed the shearsrecede, the cap is liberated from the catch and raised, leaving theplate on the top of the pedestal, when it must be removed into therecess in the face of the other pedestal and lsecured there in likemanner by bringing the capV down upon it which is then secured by thespring catch n, the mandrel Z, of the size and form of the part of therail the chair is intended to fit, is then introduced on the top oftheplate, through the space in the cap from front to back of the pedestal,and is held there by a catch or hook s, at the back of the plate, whilethe benders in their regular action, Vdescribing' the arc of a circlebend the clips over the mandrel and afterward work back and recede, thecap is then liberated and raised, the chair taken out on the mandrel,which is made slightly taper so as to drive out freely, when the chairmay have the usual spike holes punched in it in order to perfect it.

Having thus described my invention what I claim therein as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is* l. The combination of thefeathered wedge and dies as describedv for'lling the cavity between andfitting around the knuckle end of the shears and benders forming anadjustable, solid, and level bed, for the center of the plate whilebeing cut and rowest at the point and thereby leave it perfectly freeand clear of the cutters in the cap so that the cap Will lift, free fromthe plate.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name before twosubscribing Witnesses.

ROBERT GRIFFITI-IS. Witnesses A. E. H. JOHNSON, WVM. M. SMITH.

